Seaweed utilisation in New Zealand

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The commercial landscape of seaweed use in New Zealand (NZ) has shifted and evolved since it was last reviewed in 2006. One of the largest changes saw the introduction of <jats:italic>Macrocystis pyrifera</jats:italic> and green-lipped mussel spat (which is landed attached to beach-cast seaweed) into the Quota Management System—the primary tool for commercial fisheries management in NZ. There have also been policy changes around commercial harvesting and farming of <jats:italic>Undaria pinnatifida</jats:italic>, an introduced brown alga native to Asia. Traditionally, commercial algal utilization has been limited to agar production and beach-cast collection for aquaculture feeds, though demand for seaweed products has increased with a growing Asian population in NZ. The NZ seaweed industry is at an early developmental stage, but it has the potential to offer high quality seaweed stock and value-added products to the world market. The exploration of seaweed farming, the growing demand for seaweed fertilizers and the development of high-value bioactive products such as fucoidan has attracted interest from marine farmers and entrepreneurs. The key to success for the NZ seaweed industry rests in developing high-value products for an export market, from integrated farming, harvesting and processing that can deliver the most value, consume the least energy and generate minimal waste.</jats:p>

Fine‐scale environmental heterogeneity and conservation management: Beach‐cast wrack creates microhabitats for thermoregulation in shorebirds

“…In Australia and New Zealand, the feeding grounds for migratory shorebirds of the East Asia-Australasia flyway during Northern Hemisphere winter (Bamford et al, 2008), alginate is mostly extracted from fresh, beach-cast wrack (Peteiro, 2018). While data for Australia are limited and scattered (Steven et al, 2020), there is an increasing harvesting of beach-cast wrack in New Zealand with >1,000 tonnes (fresh weight) harvested in 2017 (White & White, 2020). In addition, large amounts of beach-cast wrack are mechanically removed daily to make beaches aesthetically more pleasing, especially near urban centres and in tourism destinations (Schlacher & Thompson, 2012;Zielinski et al, 2019).…”

Concise review of genus Lessonia Bory

“…There is an annual L. nigrescens and L. trabeculata harvest of 430,000 t and 60,000 t wet weight, respectively (as a comparison, the harvest of Macrocystis pyrifera was 25,000 t), representing 60% of the Chilean national seaweed harvesting in 2020, worth around US$ 110 million (Vasquez and Santelices 1990;Vega et al 2014;Sernapesca 2014Sernapesca , 2020Márquez and Vásquez 2020;González-Roca et al 2021). The harvest of Lessonia in other countries is smaller: Argentina (16 t wet weight), Peru (3,000 t dry weight), and New Zealand (< 1 t wet weight) (Casas et al 2015;Márquez and Vásquez 2020;White and White 2020).…”

An Analysis of Agricultural Systems Modelling Approaches and Examples to Support Future Policy Development under Disruptive Changes in New Zealand

“…), trade restrictions/barriers or agreements [8], new food consumption trends [9,10], and disruptive technologies such as cowless milk [11]. Technology can also be a positive factor: precision agriculture to optimise yields and minimise nutrient losses [12,13], biotechnology such as the use of seaweed for reduction of methane emissions [14,15], water/irrigation optimisation, and efficiency improvements [16], and others. The range of potential beneficial and detrimental disruptive elements highlight the urgent need to address long-term sustainability of agricultural systems [17,18].…”